In conjunction with one my latest mix's - 2011 Pop MashUp Music - I thought I would share my thoughts on what I experienced on a slightly personal and mostly artistic level last year, before I get into what I see forecast in 2012.
2011 was a year that motivated me to get active again and exposed into the social network of the music life; from my YouTube channel to my Soundcloud account to my Twitter account and most recently my DJ Facebook Page, I would say I have definitely started to lay the foundation to achieve this. This would be perceived by some as a sudden burst of activity from next to none in the past 3 years, and that is simply because... it is. My influences and experiences that caused this to happen stemmed from many different places over the past year or so and I am very excited to have this part of me be awoken again. Music and DJ'ing have always been a passion and talent that I feel I can use to express myself and grow with, so to have it be apart of my daily life feels nothing but right. Never did I expect to mostly set it aside for almost 4 years, with a few on and off spells here and there, in order to pursue other things, such as finding full time work, working to buy a home and also getting hitched, but that is what some artists need to be able to do to clear their heads and obtain other things in life. All I can say now is that the time is ripe and I am excited do be where I'm at.
Back to the music, 2011 was a busy one for me in many ways as I spent a lot time working on techniques and studying the independent music movements of the past little while. Music is a full time job for any dedicated artist, so adding this to my routine took a little getting used to again. I can't say that I was able to get as much time as I wanted but it is always a process. As long as you are moving forward you are achieving is how I look at it. Once it became apparent to me of what I needed to do I began to take the steps to make it happen, hence the onslaught of social network outlets and free downloadable mixes and a few re-releases of old tracks I produced.
At the end of 2011 I also connected with a few new people and was invited to take part in a scratch jam that took place earlier this year, you can read more about it here. This really reminded me of why I originally fell in love with DJ'ing and the art of turntablism. DJ'ing has come so far with the development of control records and new softwares but being reminded of where you came from and why you got into your passion in the first place can be the most motivation one can get sometimes.
More to come...
